End of Another Field School..

Glass bottles collected from site

        

       

Hey guys! I know it’s been a while since our last post, but it’s finally safe to announce that the Strawbery Banke archaeology department finally wrapped up the excavation at Yeaton-Walsh for the summer of 2015. Collectively, we have been digging the site for a total of seven weeks, four of them with the help of the field school and volunteers, and the remaining three done by myself and the head archaeologist, Alix.

Wooden Structure 6ft down

Although the field school ended three weeks ago, the digging continued in an attempt to gather more information around Yeaton-Walsh, before the Masons began construction. Needless to say, Murphy’s Law of Archaeology graced us with perfect timing, and all the most interesting features showed up when there was not much time left! We did get all the work done and finished up nicely, hoping to revisit in the near future. Among the most interesting finds were three features: 1. A Native American post hole (how awesome!) 2. A wooden frame structure along the western side of the house, 3. Another wooden box structure (maybe a privy?) on the southern back of the house. All of these features pre-date the house, and add another form of narrative to the history of the mastyard that stood where Yeaton-Walsh is located now.

     

Even though pressed for time, with the copious amounts of notes, maps, and information recorded, it is hopeful that in the next few summers we can revisit the site and provide more information as to what these structures could be! Along with sorting everything there is within the lab, and trust me – it’s a lot – I do believe this winter will bring a lot of work to be done cleaning and sorting, deciphering and pondering the questions presented to us in the form of features and artifacts.

Some of the many boxes filled with artifacts collected this summer

Isn’t archaeology great!